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I simply don't believe that a preponderance of the things we value in our society are actually declining. From the article: "In his new book, On Decline: Stagn
by simonh 5y ago
I simply don't believe that a preponderance of the things we value in our society are actually declining. From the article:
"In his new book, On Decline: Stagnation, Nostalgia and Why Every Year is the Worst One Ever, Potter argues that the West's two centuries of progress and prosperity — underpinned by liberal democracy, plentiful energy and natural resources, and economic growth — has ground to a halt and is now even going backwards."
None of those things - technological progress, prosperity, access to democracy, economic growth - are actually declining. Take out the last 2 years of the pandemic, and global metrics on all these fronts have been making robust advances. Global poverty in particular has undergone dramatic falls as hundreds of millions of people in China and across South East Asia left behind grinding poverty and joined the global middle class. Even Africa, which always has problems in many areas, has actually been doing pretty well by historical standards. "The West" is doing fine as well, a few slow patches and setbacks sure but nothing fundamental.
All the things weighing on people's minds in the last few years - Brexit, Trump, immigration, even Islamic terrorism - are just annoyances. Relative to actual tangible improvements in most people's lives they're just unfortunate speed bumps. They don't actually move the needle at a civilizational level.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mdp2021 5y agoThen do not consider trends and consider the state of affairs: is it satisfactory for you? Those «improvements in most people's lives» to you make bestialities disappear? You have a different set of values than others. If some of the things implicit in your list do not «move the needle at a civilizational level» (actually, they do), it is because they reveal a situation which already positions the needle some of us judge at an unfortunate level. Though they may not be declining (they are), they remain in a dire state (to other's evaluation).
- simonh 5y agoOf _course_ the state of affairs today is not satisfactory. There are many ways we could improve the world, or Western Civilization. That's a completely different question. We face several serious challenges to our civilization in the coming decades, no question. I don't even know if we will overcome them, but if we don't then out civilization will be in decline, if we do overcome them then it won't.
- bllguo 5y agoit's clearly talking about the decline of Western civilization, so it's quite bold to take credit for the successes of the alternatives the West is hellbent on destroying
- tuatoru 5y agoAccess to democracy is declining in practical terms. This is one of the main reasons that it costs so much to build public infrastructure like high-speed rail or a new tunnel under the Hudson, and why the government is not doing enough on climate change despite the results of surveys, for instance. A minority can veto actions that would benefit everyone else.